Between cloud computing, big data and consumer IT, executives feeling capable of making more of their own technology decisions. And with the ongoing business pressures for speed, agility and innovation, executives are eager to rethink and reinvent the IT department, according to a column in the Wall Street Journal.
“Planning the future of IT by projecting today’s technology trends into the future is at best naïve and at worst dangerously myopic. The future that technologists expect and want may not be the world that CIOs get. Shifting social, economic and political forces will influence what businesses will require from IT,” writes guest contributors Jeanne G. Harris and Allan E. Alter.
The article digs into issues faced by CIOs and some of the difficulties technologists face in an uncertain future.
Today’s technology transition is taking place at a moment of geopolitical, macroeconomic and legal uncertainty. Add the joker lurking in the deck – the potential downsides of our dependence on the Internet – and the uncertainty for enterprise IT grows even more, they wrote.
AWS Cuts Support Pricing
It must be getting competitive out there. Amazon Web Services has cut its support prices, expanded free support and added new support features like chat and proactive alerts.
Now all customers will automatically get free support and enterprise support will be based on usage rather than a flat fee, a potential cost saver.
Support levels have been renamed. Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum are now Basic, Developer, Business and Enterprise. All plans cover an unlimited number of cases and can be cancelled at any time. There are no long-term contracts. All plans are available worldwide.
The XaaS that Laid the Golden Eggs
Though expected as part of the enterprise transformation, we are seeing a much faster adoption of Business Process as a Service aka industry SaaS model into large and medium-sized enterprises.
We are seeing that most enterprises looking for cloud-based solutions for the new business process areas, while looking for options to migrate on-premise packaged software into their cloud equivalent.
The following players and their products have already marked their presence as a de-facto choice for many enterprises when they think of modernizing their existing IT operations. While some of these players call their offeringa mere SaaS (Software as a Service), they in fact cover end-to-end business process to be considered as BpaaS.
SYS-CON Events Announces Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley Venue
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley, the 11th International Cloud Expo, will take place November 5–8, 2012, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
The International Cloud Computing Conference & Expo series is the world’s leading Cloud-focused event. Over 400 corporate sponsors and 20,000 industry professionals have participated in Cloud Expo since its inception, more than all other Cloud-related events put together.
“Cloud Expo was announced on February 24, 2007, the day the term ‘cloud computing’ was coined,” said Fuat Kircaali, founder and chairman of SYS-CON Events, Inc. “Cloud has become synonymous with ‘computing’ and ‘software’ in two short years, and this event has become the new PC Expo, Comdex, and InternetWorld of our decade. By 2012, more than 50,000 delegates per year will be attending Cloud Expo.”
An Agile and Revenue-Generating Approach to Cloud Services
Travel insurance provider Seven Corners went beyond the typical efficiency and cost conservation benefits of cloud to build innovative business services that generate whole new revenue streams.
I often hear that culture will trump strategy. It sounds as if in your organization — maybe because you’re an SMB and you can get the full buy-in of your leadership — you actually were able to make culture into the strategy?
Absolutely! By changing the culture and getting the departments out there to ask, “Is this stuff you’re doing going to help me with this problem?” “Well, yes, it will,” and then you deliver on that promise.
When you make a promise and you deliver on it, on or ahead of schedule and under budget people begin to believe, they’re willing to participate and actively suggest other possible uses with technology that maybe you didn’t think of. So you end up with a great technology-business relationship, which had the immediate result for the owners who were out looking to buy an insurance services application or rent one.
Humanizing IT with FortressITX VP of Managed Services, Louis Ardolino
What makes Louis great is his constant dedication to customer service and his unique understanding of the IT world. From virtualization, to full IT closet offload, private cloud solutions, to the FortressITX Hosted PBX and Exchange services, Louis has a great way of breaking down complex issues so anyone can understand them. Essentially, he is our go to guy for humanizing IT.
Dell Reportedly Offers $2.15 Billion for Quest
Quest Software said last Thursday that it got an acquisition offer worth about $2.15 billion from an unidentified “strategic bidder.”
Reuters claims the unidentified mystery bidder is Dell after talks to buy Quest broke down earlier.
The $25.50-a-share cash offer bests the $23 a share Quest accepted back in March from private equity house Insight Venture Partners. Insight has to sweeten its offer or let it go for a break-up fee of either $4.2 million or $6.3 million.
Wall Street punters pushed the stock up ~10% betting it could go for better than $26 a share. JP Morgan has said the company is worth $28 a share or around $2.36 billion.
Quest reportedly got several offers during the 60-day “go-shop” arrangement it struck with Insight to see if it could fetch a better price.
Kyriba Establishes Japanese Joint Venture
Kyriba, a provider of cloud-based treasury management solutions today announced the establishment of a new joint venture in Japan called Kyriba Japan. The joint venture will enable Kyriba to meet the demands of the increasing number of corporations in Japan and throughout Asia that are turning to cloud computing and mobile solutions to help them manage their global treasury operations.
Kyriba’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution delivers a fully web-based cash, treasury, and risk management solution to over 25,000 users across 700 leading global organizations.
Key features of Kyriba’s platform include:
- Global Cash Visibility, including SWIFT integration
- Cash and Liquidity Forecasting
- Payment Factories
- Bank Fee Analysis
- Accounting Reconciliation
- Exposure Management
- Hedge Management
- Supply Chain Finance
Kyriba Japan is a joint venture between Kyriba, as the majority shareholder, SunBridge Corporation, the firm responsible for the salesforce.com Japan and Concur Japan joint ventures, and Marc Benioff and Steve Singh, acting as minority direct investors. Japan operations will begin in June 2012.
“Kyriba has enjoyed remarkable success over the last few years delivering Internet-based Treasury Management Solutions to the foremost corporations around the world. We are now investing in Japan to support our global clients’ business goals and continue our geographic expansion. This growth further demonstrates Kyriba’s commitment to satisfy our clients’ needs globally,” commented Jean-Luc Robert, CEO of Kyriba. “We are extremely pleased to be partnered with SunBridge Corporation, Marc Benioff and Steve Singh who have demonstrated great success in building the Japanese operations of top tier global companies.”
“The Kyriba solution’s ability to combine global cash visibility, treasury productivity, and risk management on a single web platform is a critical requirement for Japanese enterprises doing business internationally as well as for multi-national corporations doing business in Japan,” said Allen Miner, the Founder and CEO of SunBridge. “Feedback from potential Japanese customers gives us confidence that Kyriba will enjoy great success in Japan.”
The Challenge of Herding Cats: Your SaaS Portfolio and Security
It’s obvious the rise of SaaS (software-as-a-service) has changed the game. The benefits of subscribing to a cloud-based application service are already well-known and documented: cost-efficiencies, speed, hands-off maintenance, etc… It’s no longer an emerging practice and, for most IT managers, has become an inextricable component of any go-forward IT network strategy. What this means is now there are dozens of new sign-ons per user from a variety of endpoints (including mobile and tablet). And if we are talking enterprise-wide deployments, this is can be as challenging as herding cats.
Gurango Software Corporation Launches Gurango Accounting Online for Singapore Accountants
Gurango Software Corporation (GSC) recently launched Gurango Accounting Online, an IRAS-certified online accounting software for accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisors. The software is based on Microsoft Dynamics ERP technologies and was designed to meet the specific requirements of certified accountants and tax advisors in Singapore.
Gurango Accounting Online complies with GAAP, IFRS, and the IAF standards published by IRAS. “It’s important for us to provide accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisors in Singapore an efficient platform to accomplish their day-to-day work. Gurango Accounting Online is compliant with Singapore standards and best practices. So there are no issues in terms of aligning financial reporting with regulatory requirements,” said GSC CEO and managing director Joey Gurango.
Accessed online, Gurango Accounting Online is a Software as a Service application and is provided through GSC’s on-demand cloud service for businesses, Gurango Hosted Solutions (GHS). The service provides accountants, bookkeepers, and tax advisors the freedom to work on their day-to-day deliverables anywhere and at anytime.
Security and cost savings are also some of the top features of Gurango Accounting Online. All data is hosted in the company’s private cloud, or remote data centers, ensuring data security. Gurango Accounting Online is offered at a SME-friendly price, according to Gurango. “A big IT budget is not required to obtain this solution, and empowering small and medium businesses with enterprise-level software.
“Because there is no software to install, hardware to acquire, or IT staff to hire, additional savings are realized. The only thing required is an Internet connection,” he said. GSC provides free training classes and free technical support.
Aside from GHS, Gurango Accounting Online is built on Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Windows Server 2008R2 with Remote Desktop Services and Microsoft SQL Server 2008R2 Standard Edition.
GSC has received numerous awards and distinctions including the Microsoft Dynamics Partner of the Year three years in a row (2008-2010). GSC has offices in the Philippines, Singapore, and Australia. It also offers business software services ranging from financial and human capital management to customer service.
For more information on Gurango Accounting Online, please visit http://www.gurango.com/gurango-accounting-online.
